Serena Williams’ Streak Has Imperfect Ending

Serena Williams is capable of losing, and the players on the WTA Tour can thank Justine Henin-Hardenne for reminding them.

She ended Williams’ 21-0 start to the season by defeating the world’s No. 1 player, 6-3, 6-4, Sunday at Charleston, S.C., for the Family Circle Cup title.

“This doesn’t change anything about the great champion that Serena is. But it means that today we could see that we can do these things against her, and she can be frustrated too,” said the Belgian of her victory in the clay-court event. “I think it’s good for the other players that we can see that.”

Williams, whose last loss was to Kim Clijsters in the WTA Championship at Staples Center in November, issued a bit of a warning to future opponents.

“Sometimes you need to lose,” Williams said. “I’m so motivated now. I can just feel it coming on again. So you’ve got to watch out.”

What was perhaps most stunning was the way the momentum turned after Williams won the first three games.

“My whole game was like 9,000 notches down,” Williams said.

“I didn’t serve well, I didn’t return well, I didn’t hit well. You know, it’s just one of those days.”

Henin-Hardenne, who entered the match with a 1-4 record against Williams, won six games in a row, taking 23 of the last 26 points in the first set. She overcame a 2-0 deficit in the second set. Henin-Hardenne made Williams pay for errors, running down shots in the corners and forcing the American to go deeper into points than she wanted.

“I was a little bit nervous at the first,” said Henin-Hardenne. “But then she began to make some mistakes.”

It was Henin-Hardenne’s second title of the season and improved her match record to 21-4.

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Magui Serna of Spain needed only 69 minutes to defeat Julia Schruff of Germany, 6-4, 6-1, to win her second consecutive Estoril Open title at Oeiras, Portugal. Nikolay Davydenko of Russia won the men’s title by defeating Agustin Calleri of Argentina, 6-4, 6-3.

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Julien Boutter of France won his first ATP Tour title, beating defending champion Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, at the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament in Casablanca, Morocco.

Gymnastics

Top-ranked Oklahoma dominated the individual events at the NCAA men’s gymnastics championships in Philadelphia. Josh Landis opened the meet by winning the floor routine with a score of 9.675 to beat California’s Graham Ackerman, who finished second at 9.650. Landis also won the pommel horse with a 9.687. Daniel Furney added another title for the Sooners, winning the parallel bars with a 9.475.

In the rings, Penn State’s Kevin Tan finished first at 9.762. Michigan’s Andrew DiGiore won the vault with a 9.650. Iowa’s Linas Gaveika won the high bar with a 9.712.

Miscellany

Quarterback Carson Palmer of USC and cornerback Terence Newman of Kansas State spent some time with the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the first pick in the NFL draft. Palmer and Newman attended minicamp meetings with players and watched two workouts, chatting with owner Mike Brown while new Coach Marvin Lewis supervised drills.

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Taylor Twellman scored in the 41st minute to lift the New England Revolution into a 1-1 tie with the Fire at Chicago in a Major League Soccer opener for both teams.

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Fans from the winning and losing teams at the NCAA hockey championship threw bottles and rocks, smashed store windows and set trash bins on fire in violence that resulted in more than 100 arrests. No injuries were reported in Minneapolis, but in New Hampshire 17 people were treated for exposure to pepper gas, the university said.

The disturbances began shortly after Minnesota beat New Hampshire, 5-1, Saturday night in Buffalo, N.Y., for the Gophers’ second consecutive title.

At Durham, N.H., police twice fired pepper gas into a bottle-throwing crowd of about 4,000 people who spilled into downtown after the game. It took two hours for the crowd to disperse, and police made 90 arrests.

In Minneapolis, police arrested 11 people after a celebration turned into a window-smashing, rock-throwing melee. Five vehicles, one owned by a TV station, were set ablaze, and emergency workers were pelted with bottles, rocks and chunks of concrete.

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The United States won its first women’s world curling championship with a 5-3 victory over Canada at Winnipeg. Canada won the men’s gold medal by beating Switzerland, 10-6.

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The U.S. national team defeated Spain, 62-13, Saturday in a 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying game at Madrid.